08/26/2025
Hi friends!
As we move into cold and flu season, and with new COVID variants popping up, and all around just illnesses in general, we just wanted to give a small PSA about our immunocompromised child.
When Noa began her chemotherapy, it basically wiped her immune system clean. Doubled with the fact that leukemia is a cancer of the bone marrow, it also basically erased any previous immune build up of any vaccines Noa had prior. And to finally add on that since her diagnosis, Noa has been unable to continue getting her regular age appropriate vaccines due to treatment.
All of this to say, a minor cold or sniffle to the average child or adult with a functioning immune system could end up putting Noa in the hospital. Which is exactly what happened to us in early August when she was hospitalized for 3 days.
We are not bailing out of things, or cancelling, or pushing hard boundaries because we want to be anti-social. We are doing it to protect Noa.
Any event that Noa has been able to go to in the last year (ie: Savannah Bananas, her beach trips, Atlanta UTD, the aquarium, etc) has been because there is a team of incredible people working to make sure it is a SAFE place for Noa and other kids like Noa to be able to go. Lucas and I have been bending over backwards and jumping through hoops to make sure Noa keeps her innocence of childhood throughout this entire journey while still protecting her and her immune system. We may take her to public places but there’s still a great amount of planning, strategizing, and extra equipment that comes along to keep Noa separated and safe.
She is still in active treatment. She still takes a daily oral chemo, and a second chemo on Fridays. Every day. She gets no break. We are still doing this for another 380ish days.
So please be understanding when we say we can’t attend because someone has a cold, or someone just got over the flu, or we feel like it could potentially put Noa is a dangerous situation. We want her to be active. We want her to be outside. We want Noa to be a regular kid. But this is the hand that we were dealt, and this is what we have to do to protect our daughter.
Please be vigilant when your kids are sick. Please don’t knowingly take them into public places if you don’t absolutely have to while they’re ill.
Please don’t guilt us for trying to protect my daughter. We had the very real chance of leaving Scottish Rite last summer without our baby, and I never want to face that moment again. We are just trying to protect her.
Thank you 💛
